Friday, July 15, 2011

Leslie McDonald Tears His ACL

CBS Sports is reporting that North Carolina's Leslie McDonald has torn his ACL. Assuming it's a true tear, he's likely gone for the season. McDonald was a valuable contributor off the bench last season, scoring 7.0 points per game and leading the team with 38.1% shooting behind the arc.

This is a blow, but not a big one. Kendall Marshall and Dexter Strickland will be a tremendous starting backcourt, and Harrison Barnes should be a very good three-point shooting threat next season (he shot only 34.4% last season, but he has good form and should improve). And blue chip 2011 recruit PJ Hairston is considered a good outside shooter.

I had projected North Carolina to be the clear best team in the nation next season. At this point I think they're still the best team. Their starting lineup is going to be filthy talented. The worry is simply one of depth. If they suffer another backcourt injury then they won't be able to plug that hole with more playing time for Leslie McDonald. At this point, North Carolina is still the #1 team in the nation in my opinion, but the gap between them and Ohio State, Syracuse and Kentucky has clearly closed.

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